Arheel's Uncle
Senior Reporter
It is a copycat of the International Jewish cemetery program for finding locations of forgotten cemeteries, identifying, rebuilding, grounds maintaining and preservation program for eons in the future.
February 16, 2022
Congress finds that—
(1) during the period beginning in 1619 and ending in 1865, millions of African Americans throughout the United States were enslaved;
(2) slaveholders often—
(A) controlled where and how deceased slaves were buried; and
(B) prohibited the burial of slaves on valuable land;
(3) as a result of the practices described in paragraph (2), slave burial grounds were often confined to remote areas or marginal property;
(4) slave burial grounds—
(A) were rarely documented; and
(B) infrequently appear on historical maps;
(5) a lack of accurate information is typical of African-American cemeteries originating before the Civil War;
(6) following the end of slavery, many African-American families continued to face restrictions on where the deceased could be buried;
(7) across many areas of the United States, local laws segregated burial sites by race;
(8) African-American burial grounds often failed to receive the type of maintenance and recordkeeping that predominantly White burial grounds enjoyed;
(9) many African-American burial grounds from before and after the Civil War are in a state of disrepair or inaccessibility due to overgrowth of vegetation, crumbling physical structures, and other challenges;
(10) there is no official national record or database for African-American burial ground locations;
(11) the location of many African-American burial sites is unknown;
(12) as a result of the issues described in paragraphs (10) and (11), the family members and descendants of the individuals interred are unable to visit the burial sites to honor and remember their ancestors;
(13) abandoned African-American burial grounds are often discovered when construction projects inadvertently disturb human remains, which slows or halts completion of the projects;
(14) the presence and location of historic African-American burial grounds should be recorded;
(15) there should be coordinated national, State, local, and Tribal efforts to preserve and restore African-American burial grounds;
(16) African-American burial grounds are an integral component of the heritage of the United States; and
(17) establishing a program to preserve previously abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial grounds would help communities identify and record burial grounds and preserve local history, while better informing development decisions and community planning.
SEC. 3. Purpose.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize the National Park Service to coordinate and facilitate Federal activities and non-Federal activities to identify, interpret, research, preserve, and record unmarked, previously abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial grounds.
Text - S.3667 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Act
Text for S.3667 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Act
www.congress.gov
February 16, 2022
Congress finds that—
(1) during the period beginning in 1619 and ending in 1865, millions of African Americans throughout the United States were enslaved;
(2) slaveholders often—
(A) controlled where and how deceased slaves were buried; and
(B) prohibited the burial of slaves on valuable land;
(3) as a result of the practices described in paragraph (2), slave burial grounds were often confined to remote areas or marginal property;
(4) slave burial grounds—
(A) were rarely documented; and
(B) infrequently appear on historical maps;
(5) a lack of accurate information is typical of African-American cemeteries originating before the Civil War;
(6) following the end of slavery, many African-American families continued to face restrictions on where the deceased could be buried;
(7) across many areas of the United States, local laws segregated burial sites by race;
(8) African-American burial grounds often failed to receive the type of maintenance and recordkeeping that predominantly White burial grounds enjoyed;
(9) many African-American burial grounds from before and after the Civil War are in a state of disrepair or inaccessibility due to overgrowth of vegetation, crumbling physical structures, and other challenges;
(10) there is no official national record or database for African-American burial ground locations;
(11) the location of many African-American burial sites is unknown;
(12) as a result of the issues described in paragraphs (10) and (11), the family members and descendants of the individuals interred are unable to visit the burial sites to honor and remember their ancestors;
(13) abandoned African-American burial grounds are often discovered when construction projects inadvertently disturb human remains, which slows or halts completion of the projects;
(14) the presence and location of historic African-American burial grounds should be recorded;
(15) there should be coordinated national, State, local, and Tribal efforts to preserve and restore African-American burial grounds;
(16) African-American burial grounds are an integral component of the heritage of the United States; and
(17) establishing a program to preserve previously abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial grounds would help communities identify and record burial grounds and preserve local history, while better informing development decisions and community planning.
SEC. 3. Purpose.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize the National Park Service to coordinate and facilitate Federal activities and non-Federal activities to identify, interpret, research, preserve, and record unmarked, previously abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial grounds.